The present disclosure relates to shielded cables, and more particularly to determining whether the shielding of a shielded cable has degraded.
Shielded cables are commonly used for transmitting power and data between components. In a shielded cable, individual conductors are enclosed within a common sheath, and each of those individual conductors can be shielded from one another to maximize electrical isolation and minimize cross-talk between the conductors. In some examples this takes the form of twisted pairs, where individual pairs of conductors are twisted around each other within the common sheath. Use of twisted pairs can minimize electromagnetic interference (EMI) from external sources, for example.
A known method of testing the integrity of the shielded cable involves inducing radio frequency (RF) currents on a given shielded cable, and measuring a coupled voltage on a shielded center conductor to determine the shield transfer impedance. This method can be difficult to implement in aircraft environments, where cables may be situated in tight spaces and/or are generally difficult to access.